Selling off debt

wee_student_saver

Hello all,

I'm in the process of sorting out my debts and paying stuff off.

Three questions if you don't mind,

1) Say I have a debt of £2000. They have agreed a settlement of £500. I can't afford to pay that much in one go. Is there anyway I can reduce the £2000 and continue to pay it off monthly?

2) Is there any way to stop them calling me? I want to deal with them via mail only. Also, I am aware I can ask for information under the DPA to see what they hold on me. Is there anyway to get them to delete my information when we are all done?

3) I seem to get a letter from a different debt collection company every month. I'd really prefer not to pay the money to these people and would rather deal with the bank I originally had the debt with. Can I force the original bank to take my money or do I have no choice?

Thanks if you can help!

postingalwaysposting

wee_student_saver wrote: »

Hello all,

I'm in the process of sorting out my debts and paying stuff off.

Three questions if you don't mind,

1) Say I have a debt of £2000. They have agreed a settlement of £500. I can't afford to pay that much in one go. Is there anyway I can reduce the £2000 and continue to pay it off monthly?

2) Is there any way to stop them calling me? I want to deal with them via mail only. Also, I am aware I can ask for information under the DPA to see what they hold on me. Is there anyway to get them to delete my information when we are all done?

3) I seem to get a letter from a different debt collection company every month. I'd really prefer not to pay the money to these people and would rather deal with the bank I originally had the debt with. Can I force the original bank to take my money or do I have no choice?

Thanks if you can help!

welcome


1) I think you can only offer full and final settlements if you have the money for them to accept it straight away. You will have to carry on clawing at the debt untill you have a ammount they are willing to offer.

2) There are two ways (or one) that you can do this. Write a letter to all the companys asking for only letter communications. Or change your phone number. I would do both

I dont know the answer to 3) and also dont take the advise above as the only advise i may be wrong, more people will be along later/in the morning.

wee_student_saver

Not a problem, thanks for your help! I had a fair idea but just wanted to make sure.

The 3rd point is one that really annoys me because about 20 companies probably have my personal details now, including my mobile number which I've made a point of not changing for about 8 years, so I'm not so happy!

Mozette

Can you block their numbers? Or if they ring, deny it's you, say you bought the phone in a pub, and you've no idea who you are...

wee_student_saver

Anyone else have anything to add to this?

sammy115

I have an option on my landline to barr numbers that I don't want to receive. It is quite useful.

I just don't answer my mobile to people I don't know, or people who with hold their numbers.

Its a shame can you not borrow the £500 of a relative. Thats a good settlement figure to be offered.

Iain_B_5

With your 3rd point; under the DPA, it states under the principles:

"5. Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes."

Debt_Tired

This message is a rather patching response to your concerns, but let’s start at the bottom, in that your third concern is valid. Thing is, debts are sold, then sometimes sold again from one DCA (Debt Collecting Agency) to another, sometimes for pennies in the pound. This is a major heartache. DCAs act as if they are collecting a debt, which you owe, but in reality they are profiting out of a bad situation made worst. They buy debt cheaply and then demand that you pay the full amount, while your original creditor has effectively written off what you owe them.

Some DCAs can’t be bothered dealing in token sums, so as soon as they realise that they aren’t going to profit quickly out of a debt they will sell it on. Even if they make £20 on that resale, its better than waiting 20 months to secure the same amount.

Most DCAs are vultures and what they do should be made illegal. Never feel sorry for a DCA or the idiots who work for them. They have no sympathy for you or I. It’s their job to hassle and threaten and some enjoy listening to debtors crying in despair over the phone. When DCAs are sometimes cornered by some newspaper hack or television reporter, their first line of defence is usually: “what we do is not illegal…”.

Now, if anyone says what they do isn’t illegal, then usually it means that it should be. Remember that slavery, segregation and apartheid were all once legal practices. Even the persecution of the Jews in 1930s Germany wasn’t illegal (laws were passed, which ultimately lead to the gas chambers…). Before the minimum wage was introduced in the UK paying someone £1 per hour (early 1990s) was sometimes the norm.

Regarding a debt collector phoning you, there isn’t much you can do either. What really, really bugs me is that every time they phone me, they insist that “for security purposes” that I give them my address and date of birth. Yet, rarely do they provide any proof of sale from original creditor to DCA, or from DCA to DCA. They will never tell you how much they paid for the debt either. I would imagine that as they are offering to settle your £2000 debt for £500 that they probably paid around £250.

That said, if you can secure £500 from family or from another sauce of finance then please do, though usually such generous offers do come with a deadline. However, sometimes a DCA will accept a offer previous made by them, even if the deadline has passed. Make securing that £500 a priority over your other concerns.

It is very unlikely that your original creditor will want to buy your debt back. One of my debts was sold by a really good bank, who were and still are very sympathetic (£1 per month on a £8000 debt). You’ll find that original creditors are better at dealing with debtors than DCA scum. Banks have a image to maintain. Bad publicity can threaten a bank and it’s cashflow (customers leaving). DCAs know they are scum and don’t mind others knowing it.

Don’t worry about them having your name, address, date of birth and telephone number. There are hundreds of organisations that hold such information and more. Regarding your finances, the only real concern you should be your credit history, which is held by several organisations, such as Experian. For £1 or £2 you can obtain a copy of your credit file. This contains the basics (name and address) plus details of all your credit dealings, which will include payment defaults, etc. This is where my experience is lacking. There are other parts of this website that offer better advice and expert knowledge.

I hope that the above helps. Thing is, you can really be nasty and obstructive towards DCAs and the scum that who work for them, but it’s really not worth it. They know they are scum. They know that they are profiting out of someone’s misfortune. The real culprits (who should get a good kicking) are those who allow such practices to continue, namely the politicians…

…but let’s not go there.

Bismarck

some full responses there - trying to work out why this was rasied again when it was first asked in 2007? or are my early morning eyes playing tricks on me?

Debt_Tired

You're right. 2007: I never noticed the date. Wonder what happened to wee_student_saver? Maybe he's now: wee_ex-student_saver. Wonder if he managed to pay off his debts?

My arguments still stand though, DCAs and their slaves are horrible unmentionables who come the revolution should be the first to be taken out and shot - preferably with blunderbusses filled with their own poo! Creative or what?

Bismarck

Debt_Tired wrote: »

DCAs and their slaves are horrible unmentionables who come the revolution should be the first to be taken out and shot - preferably with blunderbusses filled with their own poo! Creative or what?

would need to reflect on the consistency of the poo to judge whether it would have the desired effect......

the tragedy is that in today's climate, there will never be a shortage of "slaves" when there are bills to pay...